Breakdown of Tämä kahvi on entistä aromikkaampaa ja täyteläisempää.
tämä
this
olla
to be
ja
and
kahvi
coffee
entinen
former
aromikas
aromatic
täyteläinen
full-bodied
Questions & Answers about Tämä kahvi on entistä aromikkaampaa ja täyteläisempää.
How exactly does entistä mean "than before" in this sentence?
Entistä is the partitive form of the adjective entinen (former, previous). In Finnish, you can express "more than X" by putting X in the partitive case directly before the comparative adjective. So, entistä aromikkaampaa literally translates to "more aromatic than the former". It is a very common and elegant structure used to say "more [adjective] than before."
Could I just say aromikkaampaa kuin ennen instead?
Yes, absolutely! Tämä kahvi on aromikkaampaa kuin ennen is perfectly correct and means exactly the same thing. However, using entistä + comparative is highly natural in Finnish and is often preferred in slightly more descriptive or formal contexts, such as food packaging, reviews, or advertising.
Why are the comparative adjectives aromikkaampaa and täyteläisempää in the partitive case instead of the basic nominative form?
They are in the partitive because the subject, kahvi (coffee), is an uncountable mass noun. When describing a mass noun acting as a substance with the verb olla (to be), the describing adjective must be in the partitive case. So "The coffee is aromatic" is Kahvi on aromikasta, and "The coffee is more aromatic" becomes Kahvi on aromikkaampaa.
What is the base form of aromikkaampaa, and how does it change into this form?
The base adjective is aromikas (aromatic). Words ending in -kas or -käs change to a strong grade stem ending in -kkaa- or -kkää- before adding most suffixes. So, aromikas becomes the stem aromikkaa-. To make it comparative, you add -mpi (aromikkaampi). To make that comparative form partitive, the -mpi changes to -mpaa, giving you aromikkaampaa.
How is the form täyteläisempää built from its base word?
The base word is täyteläinen (full-bodied). Adjectives ending in -nen change their ending to -se- in the stem, making it täyteläise-. Adding the comparative marker -mpi gives täyteläisempi. Finally, forming the partitive of a comparative changes the -mpi to -mpaa or -mpää. Because täyteläinen has front vowels (ä, y), vowel harmony dictates that we use the front vowel ending -mpää, resulting in täyteläisempää.
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